Chile drops cases due to covid-19 thanks to vaccination 2:25
(CNN Spanish) -
As COVID-19 infections soar again in different parts of the world due to the delta variant, even leading the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States to return In recommending the use of masks to those vaccinated, Latin American countries are also trying to expand the scope of their vaccination programs.
In this context, some countries in the region have also started vaccinating their populations between 12 and 17 years of age, while others have plans to do so soon.
Facing the increase in covid-19 cases is like being told you have to go back to war, says a nurse
At the moment, 28.6% of the world population already has at least one dose of the vaccine against covid-19.
In South America, the average reaches 44.05% of the population, according to figures from Our World in Data.
Uruguay and Chile are the countries with the highest vaccination rate with at least one dose in Latin America, 73.99% and 72.34% respectively.
Nicaragua, with 2.82%, and Haiti, with 0.05%, are among the countries with the lowest vaccination rate.
While Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, the most populated, have applied at least one dose at 49.45%, 36.99%, 35.03% and 55.71%, respectively.
Only five countries in Latin America have effectively begun vaccinating minors between the ages of 12 and 17: Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Uruguay.
While Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Mexico have plans to start doing so in the coming months and have approved the use of certain vaccines in that age group.
advertising
The first countries to start vaccinating minors
Uruguay was the first in the region to begin vaccinating adolescents, the country's Ministry of Public Health said.
Vaccination began on June 9, and the total population is estimated at 290,000 children.
On June 22 it was Chile's turn.
"Today we begin to vaccinate children, young people between 12 and 17 years old. This is important because we all need protection against the coronavirus," President Sebastián Piñera said at a press conference after four adolescents received their first dose.
In both Uruguay and Chile, the Pfizer vaccine was used to immunize adolescents.
Chile and Uruguay approved its use in minors in May, shortly after authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Five countries in the region have begun vaccinating minors against covid-19.
The Colombian Ministry of Health published in June a bulletin in which it incorporated minors between 12 and 15 years old in the National Vaccination Plan against covid-19 based on "scientific evidence" on the "safety and efficiency" of the inoculants.
Vaccination of minors with comorbidities began at the end of July.
Last week the Minister of Health and Social Protection, Fernando Ruiz Gómez said that "every child over 12 years of age with comorbidity must have access" and pointed out that by the end of August vaccination would be opened for children between 12 and 17 years old without comorbidities, as indicated by the Departmental Health Institute of Norte de Santander.
Peru, meanwhile, approved the use of Pfizer's vaccine in minors in June, and began on Tuesday, July 27, to apply it to minors between 12 and 17 years old with cancer, according to the state agency Andina.
It was not clear when it will be called to vaccinate minors without previous conditions, since at the moment the National Vaccination Campaign in Peru is applying doses to people over 40 years of age without comorbidities.
Argentina became the fifth country in Latin America on Tuesday to begin vaccinating young people between the ages of 12 and 17.
Inoculation, using Moderna vaccines approved in July, is currently focused on children with comorbidities.
Chile drops cases due to covid-19 thanks to vaccination 2:25
Brazil prepares to start vaccinating minors
Brazil, whose National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine in children between 12 and 17 years old in June, has not yet begun to apply the doses in this range.
The Ministry of Health, the National Council of Health Secretaries (CONASS) and the Council of Municipal Health Secretaries (Conasems) indicated last week in a tripartite statement that the priority should be to complete the vaccination of the entire adult population with at least one dose, and they asked the states and municipalities to follow this indication "rigorously".
"Once the delivery of doses for the adult population is completed, adolescents from 12 to 17 years old will be included, with priority for those with comorbidities," they said, without specifying when this stage is expected to be reached.
However, some cities in Brazil, such as Campo Grande, have already begun to vaccinate their adolescent populations, while Rio de Janeiro announced that in September it will begin vaccinating minors between 12 and 17 years old, according to the state agency Agência Brasil.
Did you get vaccinated?
In these countries you could win prizes 0:43
Mexico analyzes starting to vaccinate children with comorbidities
Mexico approved on June 24 the use of the Pfizer vaccine in children over 12 years of age, but has not started applying them either.
"I am pleased to inform you that Cofepris (Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks) has authorized the expansion of the indication of the Pfizer vaccine for people over 12 years old; it is the first vaccine against covid-19 authorized for adolescents in our country," he said. the Undersecretary of Prevention and Health Promotion Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez on his Twitter account.
But the government of Mexico has not yet announced a vaccination schedule against covid-19 that includes adolescents.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador mentioned on Tuesday the possibility of beginning to inoculate minors with comorbidities if this was "approved" by international health organizations.
"We want the entire population over 18 to be vaccinated next winter, and we do not rule out that in the case of children and young people with diseases that merit special protection, if international health organizations do so they approve, they are also vaccinated in our country, "said López Obrador in his usual press conference in the morning.
Covid-19 vaccine against covid-19